Northern Hawk Owl 001

A friend of mine wanted to take a trip down the shore to see if we could locate the owls that I have photographed over the last two weeks. We stopped at Gooseberry Falls State Park to see if the Northern Hawk Owl was still around. We found him in the same tree that he was using a week ago. The staff at the park said that hundreds of people have had the opportunity to see the owl.

Northern Hawk Owl 002

Hunting mice in the park must be pretty good this time of year.

Snowy Owl 001

We continued to Duluth where a snowy owl has been seen around the fairgrounds outside of Superior, Wisconsin. As we drove down Tower Avenue it was sitting on a pole just past the fairgrounds. The owl wasn’t afraid of us at all. He just sat on his pole resting in the afternoon sunshine.

Snowy Owl 002

We took some photos of the owl preening his feathers.

Snowy Owl 003

He appeared as though he was yawning when all of a sudden he coughed up a pellet.

Snowy Owl 004

Luckily I shot a burst of photos at approximately 10 frames per second and caught the action. About 10-16 hours after an owl has a meal it regurgitates a pellet consisting of the undigested fur, teeth, skulls and bones of whatever it has had for lunch. It might sound disgusting and it looks painfull but it keeps the bird healthy.